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About 75,000 Ohioans Take Driver’s Licenses Digital in 2 Days

Residents of the Buckeye State gained the ability Wednesday to add their driver’s licenses to their Apple Wallets — and more than 75,000 had done so by late Friday, the state said.

A digital ID icon make of chrome-colored raised letters against a black background.
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(TNS) — About 75,000 Ohioans have uploaded their state identification to their iPhones in the first two days since state officials rolled out the technology.

On Wednesday, Ohio found itself on the front end among states on the innovation curve, becoming the fifth in the nation to partner with Apple in engineering a system to allow government-backed identification and verification through Apple Wallet software.

Columbus and Cincinnati airports, per state officials, are now equipped to rely on the technology in lieu of a physical ID card. The digital ID isn’t sufficient to vote, and it’s on individual businesses to determine how to incorporate the idea. The digital ID is insufficient for interactions with law enforcement.

However, it has proven popular.

“We eclipsed 75,000,” said Ohio BMV spokeswoman Lindsey Bohrer in an email just before 4 p.m. Friday.

The digital ID system is only available for those with an Ohio-issued ID and an iPhone 8 or more recent device with an up-to-date operating system. A spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine has previously said the state is working on a parallel system for Android devices expected next year.

More information for users and businesses is available on the state BMV’s website.

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